Thursday, June 10, 2010

Most 3G2S posts contain commission-yielding affiliate links. When you make a purchase after clicking a link, our family earns a small commission at no additional cost to you. Thank you for supporting our blog.

All three of my children are huge fans of the Caring Corners interactive dollhouse and camper from Learning Curve. Both are fun and easily allows more than one child to play. The only feature the dollhouse and camper are missing is portability.

Since our 3yr old twins will be staying with my sister and brother-in-law for a few days this summer, while I attend BlogHer with my husband and 6yr old son, we needed to plan how we can bring enough toys to keep them occupied during their stay without taking over my sister's house. The new Miss Butterfly Bliss Interactive Cottage was the perfect solution. This fold-out dollhouse is made of easy-to-care-for vinyl and doubles as a carrying case for all your Caring Corners dolls and accessories.

The front of the house is as charming as all the other Caring Corners characters. The backs and sides of the house are equally as charming. I love the way the vinyl handle has been fashioned to be a decorative part of the cottage's exterior.

Unlike the interactive dollhouse, the cottage only has three places where your child can trigger a light-up effect or sound.

On this toy, your child can push the butterfly on the front door to make the butterflies inside and out light up and to hear Miss Butterfly Bliss' song and greeting. Your child can also push the bin of gardening tools on the interior stoop to see the butterflies light up and hear a song about helping out. A fun surprise is that a another way to hear a song and see the butterflies twinkle is to pull on the garden hose.

The cottage is held together in several places by Velcro squares. When unfolded, it reveals six rooms . . . a bathroom, a bedroom, a nursery, an enclosed garden, a dining room, and a kitchen.

The dining room has a special surprise. The mirror on the wall flips down to create a tabletop that has four place settings. The table can also be removed altogether so that you can use one of the Caring Corners tables (which must be purchased separately) instead. The table can easily be reattached by matching up the Velcro squares.

Below are photos of the cottage set up with Caring Corners figures, furniture, and other accessories that must be purchased separately . . .

"The Nursery"

"The Garden"

"The Bedroom and Dining Room"

" The Bathroom and Kitchen"

There are two suggestions I have for this toy. The first is that I think it should come with at least one doll so that this toy can be purchased and be ready-to-play. Perhaps Learning Curve could offer one version that is the cottage alone and another version that comes with a mother/daughter doll pack?

The other suggestion I have is to add an extra Velcro tab along the back bottom of the cottage. The way it is now, if you store your small accessories, such as the little animal figures, inside the cottage, they are in danger of falling out because there is an opening all along that bottom edge at the rear of the cottage. The way it is, we need to put all our small accessories inside a small plastic storage container to prevent losing anything.

This is a wonderful toy to pick up for your children if you are going on vacation this year. It is the size of a small carry-on piece of luggage and would easily fit inside a full-size suitcase. It would be a great thing to have for those down-times when your family is in the hotel room or vacation house.

The Miss Butterfly Bliss Interactive Cottage retails for $29.99 and can be purchased at the Learning Curve Shop, Toys R Us, Amazon.com, and other major toy retailers.

Thank you to Learning Curve for sending us a sample cottage and doll packs free of charge to base this review upon.

What you can win:One lucky reader will receivea Miss Butterfly Bliss Interactive Cottage (dolls, furniture, and accessories not included).

Limitations:

This giveaway is open to U.S. entries only. You do not need to be a blogger to enter, but you must have a valid email address and be age 18 years or older. If you enter anonymously and do not include a valid email address in your comment entries, I will not be able to notify you should you win this random drawing.

How to Gain Entries:

Browse the selection of Caring Corners dolls, furniture, and accessories. Then leave a comment telling me the name of a specific product or products that you think would be fun to use with the Miss Butterfly Bliss Cottage. You MUST do this to be eligible to win this contest.

Extra Entries:

1)For 5 extra entries, leave a relevant comment on one of my non-giveaway posts. Then leave FIVE separate comments with the name of the post on which you commented. You will earn 5 extra entries for each different non-contest post you comment on.

2)

For 5 extra entries, enter one of my other contests. Leave FIVE separate comments here telling me which contest you entered. You will earn 5 extra entries for each contest you enter.

3)For 10 extra entries, blog about this contest linking back to this post ANDLearningCurve.com. Then come back here and leave TEN separate comments with the link to your blog post.

Add my button or blog link to your blog's sidebar. Then leave a separate comment with the link to your blog.

(All entries will be verified prior to awarding this prize.)

Random Drawing:

This contest will be closed onMonday, June 28th, 2010 at 11:59pm EST. A random number drawing will be held shortly after. The winner will be announced here and will be contact via email or through their blog. If the winner does not respond within 48 hours, a new number will be drawn.